Since establishing Luna Negra Dance Theater seven years ago, artistic
director Eduardo Vilaro has fought to redefine contemporary Latino dance.
The Chicago company is based more in modern and ballet styles than in salsa
or flamenco. It's certainly not a folkloric troupe.

Yet Vilaro continues to delve into the racially and ethnically diverse
movement, as well as music of Latin and Caribbean countries, in fresh ways
that speak to modern audiences.

Over the weekend, Luna Negra's fall engagement at the Harris Theater
in Millennium Park embraced these goals with a gentle flourish. The world
premiere of Vilaro's "Mi Corazon Negro" (My Black Heart)" united the dancers
with renowned Afro-Peruvian vocalist-poet Susana Baca.

Baca, who has devoted her life to preserving the culture of Peru's African
descendants, anchored the full-length ensemble work from the moment she
entered in slow motion.

Baca wove her body's seamless rhythmic flow into Vilaro's choreographic
blend of African and Latin body postures, including shoulder contractions
and elegant sweeps of the hips. Structured like an informal village gathering,
"Mi Corazon Negro" gives each dancer an opportunity to illustrate timeless
joys and challenges.

At one point, Ricardo J. Garcia executes an athletic, anguished solo
while Baca seems to walk on a cloud in the distance. The vocalist becomes
the lifeblood of the work and essentially drives the dance. She offers
tender maternal qualities and a quiet invincibility.

Luna Negra's program included other shorter works from the repertoire.

Maray Gutierrez's "Eterno Despertar" ("Eternal Awakening"), a melancholic
quartet suggesting a symbolic washing ashore and shedding one's past, keeps
revealing new psychological layers. Ron De Jesus' "The Last 12 Minutes"
takes a profound glimpse into the afterlife as spiritlike figures fight
for the soul of a dying woman, with a jarring finale in which these vague
harpies break into molecules. Pedro Ruiz's too-short duet, "Enamorados"
("The Lovers"), is a twisted tango of flirtation, resistance and chaotic
submission.